Literature News Roundup: Sneak Peek At New Game Of Thrones!

George RR Martin has released an extract of the much anticipated sixth Song of Ice and Fire book, The Winds of Winter. The chapter was posted online, but as yet the novel itself does not have a confirmed publication date. Fans have speculated that we may be getting our hands on it in late 2015, which sounds a long way off from the 2011 release of A Dance with Dragons. Considering the far longer wait between the last two books (six years!), sticking to this deadline would be great news, especially with concerns with the TV show catching up quick!

Chuck Palahniuk has posted an image on his website for the cover of his new novel Beautiful You!, a book about the sex toy industry.

John Green’s book Paper Towns is going to be adapted into a film. The story follows Q, a high school student who goes on a quest to discover the whereabouts of missing girl Margo, following the clues left in her wake. The movie adaptation of Green’s A Fault in our Stars is due out soon.

There has been controversy in the news this week over the planned ban on books for prisoners in the UK. Ministers in charge of the proposal are claiming it will work as an incentive system to encourage good behaviour by the inmates. Writers, including Carol Ann Duffy, Irvine Welsh and Mark Haddon – who launched an online petition against the decision – have staged protests and decried the act, claiming books should be viewed as tools for rehabilitation rather than institutional ‘rewards’.

Man-Booker prize winning author Peter Carey will be publishing a new book in November, titled Amnesia, about cyber hackers, politics and international prison systems.

Scott Westerfeld, author of the Uglies series, has written a new YA novel titled Afterworlds, which will be published by Simon & Schuster in the UK this September. The book will have two intertwining narratives, focusing on a young author in New York City and her debut thriller novel, Afterworlds.